Norway’s My Uncle Jens and other Nordic titles lined up for SXSW

Starting on March 7, all is set for this year’s edition of the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas.

Norwegian/Kurdish writer and director Brwa Vahabpour’s feature debut My Uncle Jens (Onkel Jens) is selected for the festival’s Narrative Feature Competition, where it will have its world premiere.

The dramedy tells the story of the teacher Akam (Peiman Azizpour), who lives a comfortable life in a shared apartment in Oslo. When his estranged uncle (Hamza Agoshi) from the Iranian part of Kurdistan surprisingly shows up, he feels obliged to invite him to stay for a few days. The uncle quickly makes himself at home without showing any intentions of leaving, and as tensions starts to grow among the flatmates, Akam begins to suspect that his family member hasn’t just come on a casual visit.

My Uncle Jens is produced by Renée Mlodyszewski for True Content Production Norway, in co-production with Anda Ionescu from Romania’s Tangaj Production.

Shortly after the Austin festival, Vahabpour’s film opens the 21st edition of Norway’s Kosmorama International Film Festival in Trondheim on March 17, before its release in national cinemas on April 4.

Selected for the Documentary Spotlight section, the Danish feature doc Dear Tomorrow (Jeg tilhører ingen steder) by Kaspar Astrup Schröder also world premieres at SXSW. Set in Japan, the film is described as a multi-character story about loneliness, centred around a mental health hotline.

Dear Tomorrow will have its European premiere at CPH:DOX later this month. The doc is produced by Katrine A. Sahlstrøm and Maria Helga Stürup for Denmark’s Good Company Pictures, and co-produced by Sweden’s Momento Film and Moolin Productions from Japan.

Returning to fiction, Swedish psychological thriller/horror film The Home (Hemmet) by Mattias J. Skoglund world premieres in the festival’s genre oriented Midnighter section.

The film’s protagonist Joel reluctantly returns to his childhood town to get his mother into a home for elderly dementia patients. But when she starts having visions as well as acting violently, Joel becomes convinced that his mother is haunted by something far more terrifying than memory loss.

The screenplay is written by director Skoglund and Mats Strandberg, adapted from Strandberg’s novel by the same name. The Home is produced by Siri Hjorton Wagner from the Swedish company [sic] film. Co-producers are Elina Litvinova of Estonia’s Three Brothers and Heather Millard from Iceland’s Compass Films.

Also from Sweden, the hybrid/experimental documentary Trans Memoria is screened in the festival’s Global section. In her deeply personal feature debut, writer/director and conceptual artist Victoria Verseau returns to Thailand, where she underwent her physical transition to become a woman, together with two friends on similar journeys of transition.

The Swedish/French film is produced by Malin Hüber for HER Film, in co-production with Les Films du Bilboquet, Gotlands Filmfond, Pictanovo and Les Fresnoy.

Among the TV series screened in the Austin festival’s TV Spotlight section is the Norwegian series Dates in Real Life, written and directed by Jakob Rørvik. The 7-part series deals with relationship problems in the age of online dating and virtual realities, and is produced by Petter Onstad Løkke and Synnøve Hørsdal from Maipo Film for Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Rørvik’s comedy/drama series has won several major awards, including Best Series in the International Panorama section at Series Mania, Prix Europa for Best European TV Fiction Series, and Rose d’Or for Best Comedy Drama & Sitcom. In January, Dates in Real Life received the Creative Courage award, presented by Nordisk Film & TV Fond at the Göteborg Film Festival.

Yet another world premiere is The Sentry, which is selected for the Narrative Short Competition. Writer/director Jake Wachtel’s short film is a co-production between the United States, Cambodia and Norway, with Alan R. Milligan from the Norwegian company Tannhausergate among the film’s producers.

Further Nordic titles are to be found in the festival’s Music Video Competition. The Swedish music video Other Girls for the artist Sarah Klang is directed by Rose Bush and Kirsten Bode, and has its world premiere at SXSW. In addition, the music video Zigidi for Biji is a French/German/Swedish/British production, directed by Maceo Frost.

My Uncle Jens, Dear Tomorrow, The Home and Dates in Real Life have received funding from Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

The South by Southwest festival takes place in Austin, Texas, from March 7 to 15. The first European SXSW will take place in London, England, from June 2 to 7.